The news van stood parked beside Kyoto City Hospital as sirens wailed behind her. Manami, a field reporter for GNN, remained in position despite the noise, the red recording light blinking in front of her. Motobe held the camera steady, his focus locked on her as he lifted one hand and gave her a quiet signal that they were live.
With a wide smile, she smoothed the front of her white dress and adjusted her bright blue blazer resting over her shoulders.
She leaned slightly toward the lens.
"Good morning, Kyoto. It is now nine a.m. on this beautiful Monday morning, and yes, I know exactly what all of you are thinking."
Her eyes glinted with excitement.
"You all saw the live footage we captured earlier this morning, didn't you? The battle that shook the forest outskirts of Osaka, right near what remains of the Hoshigiri family mansion."
She gestured subtly in front of her, careful to keep her posture composed.
"My cameraman and I were on site when it happened. What began as tremors across the forest turned into a confirmed confrontation between two entities previously dismissed as myth."
She paused.
"They were not sorcerers. And they certainly were not government-made experimental weapons. They were Horsemen of the Apocalypse."
The sirens wailed again as another ambulance pulled into the emergency bay. She did not turn around.
"Yes. The Horsemen of the Apocalypse."
She held the lens tight.
"The footage we captured shows Death, engaging in combat with Conquest high above the disintegrated forest. Government officials have verified the recording. Analysts have slowed it down frame by frame. Religious scholars have weighed in. All of this to say that the biblical texts were not metaphors but a warning to all mankind of an apocalypse coming soon."
The hospital doors swung open behind her as several police officers stepped out. Fear tightened their faces, their hands hovering near the guns at their waists. Without speaking to the press, they moved quickly toward their patrol cars and drove off.
"And the reason we stand outside of Kyoto City Hospital this morning is all because of Conquest."
She sighed as she scratched her head.
"Sources confirm that Conquest remains inside this very hospital, receiving treatment for the injuries she sustained during her battle with Death. At this time, officials confirm she is in a coma, and no one can say when she will wake."
She held her gaze steady on the lens.
"Now that we know Death and Conquest are real, that raises a question far more urgent than speculation."
She leaned closer to the camera, lowering her voice just enough to draw the audience in.
"If Death and Conquest walk among us… where are the others?"
Motobe, the camera man, adjusted the focus of the camera slightly.
"Stay tuned for more GNN Daily News and do not forget. We were there when the battle of the century unfolded, and we will remain here as the truth behind the Horsemen of the Apocalypse comes to light."
She lifted her hand toward the lens, her smile unwavering as the red light blinked one last time.
"This is Manami Sora. Stay safe, stay informed, and keep watching Global National News."
***
Eight months had passed since the battle between Death and Conquest.
In the heart of downtown Kyoto, snow fell from the gray sky, covering the streets and rooftops in white. inside the private office of the city's most famous casino, "Casino Bar Leje," a man sat back on a leather couch.
He had short, curly black hair and wore circular sunglasses. A katana rested at his left side. He wore a black samurai-styled outfit, a white dragon stitched across the back.
He reached for the remote and turned off the television that had been airing the news.
The reporter had been speaking about how the disappearances had decreased significantly. However, to him, it was not much of a headline. Sorcerers like him had never been affected by it anyway.
A few minutes later, the door to the private office burst open. A tall, muscular bald man stepped inside, his suit jacket unbuttoned, a lit cigar clenched between his teeth. With one hand, he held a heavier bald man by the throat. Without slowing his stride, he hurled him across the room, sending him crashing down beside the man seated on the couch.
The man curled on the floor, trembling.
"Please, I'll pay, I swear. Just give me another day. Please… I'm begging you. I don't want to die."
The tall muscular man laughed as he pulled out his Walther P38 pistol from the side of his jacket while he cocked it and aimed it at him.
"What's this? You're begging for your life now?"
He exhaled a thin stream of smoke, letting it drift between them.
"You weren't so humble when you told the whole neighborhood you wouldn't settle your debt."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"I even heard you say the Arakawa family name didn't scare you."
The man kept his face pressed to the floor as tears streamed down.
"Please… I wasn't in the right state of mind. I was drunk after losing everything. Forgive me."
His gaze lowered slightly.
"We fronted you the money so you could keep playing at our tables. You lost and instead of settling your debt like a man, you chose to disrespect the Arakawa family name."
A pause.
"And now you're asking me to extend your life by a day?"
He raised the gun.
"Die with what little dignity you have left."
He pulled the trigger and kept firing until the chamber emptied.
The man's body lay riddled with bullet holes, blood soaking through his shirt and pooling beneath him.
Without hesitation, the tall, muscular man stepped forward, grabbed the lifeless corpse by the collar, and dragged him toward the door. He hauled the body out of the private office and turned toward the maids waiting in the hallway.
"Hey! You. Take this to the disposal area. Make sure no one sees you moving the body."
He glanced toward the stairwell.
"The police are downstairs playing poker and slots. Don't do anything stupid."
The maid bowed her head respectfully before stepping back.
***
The tall, muscular man smirked and removed the cigar from his mouth, and flicked it toward the maids' back before stepping into the private office and shutting the door behind him.
"So, are you just going to sit there and say nothing or what?"
The black-haired man in the samurai outfit leaned back on the couch, snoring as if nothing in the world concerned him.
The man grabbed his pistol and cocked it, the click echoing in the room.
"I don't know why the boss keeps you around. You haven't done a single job for this family."
He pressed the barrel of his pistol against the center of his forehead.
"You're supposed to be some big-shot sorcerer from that famous clan of yours, yet you sit here and do nothing. I should put a bullet in you right now and tell the boss you walked out on us."
The snoring suddenly stopped.
The curly-haired samurai slowly raised his hand and slid the circular sunglasses off his face. His golden eyes opened, staring straight at him.
"Hajime Benzo…" He said.
At that moment, Hajime felt a flicker of recognition. He had seen those eyes before. They carried a ferocity, almost animalistic, and the mere sight of them made sweat gather along his brow.
"You! You're that man son, aren't you. The late Sorcerer King!"
Hajime removed his pistol from his forehead and back off slightly.
"Wh— What the hell are you doing here! Answer me!!"
The curly-haired samurai put his shades back on and got up from the leather couch and looked up at the tall man who was sweating.
In that same instant, Hajime's pistol shattered into tiny little pieces without any movement from the curly haired samurai.
"Huh? HUH?!"
A phone rang, the sharp melody of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" cutting through the tension in the room.
Hajime blinked, thrown off by the sound. For a second, he forgot that just moments ago his gun had been shattered in his hand.
The curly-haired samurai patted down his black outfit until he found his phone. He answered the call without looking away and switched it to speaker.
"Kamui Hoshigiri, I have a job for you." The caller said.
Hajime shook his head, in utter disbelief. The boss had called him directly. No one in the Arakawa family had that privilege.
The fact that Kamui-kid had the boss's private number irritated him. Since, he only ever spoke to the boss face to face or through a burner phone.
That was how the Yakuza operated. However, with Kamui around, the boss seemed to have thrown all caution out the window, calling him through a direct line.
The Boss continued
"I need you to see The Horsemen of Conquest. They should still be in Kyoto City Hospital. I leave the judgment call up to you, you know what I mean right?"
"Yeah…Leave it to me."
Hajime grabbed the phone from Kamui as he yelled.
"Boss! How about me? What can I do for you?"
"Stay in the casino. Make sure the boys are out collecting what's owed."
Hajime put one hand in his face as desperation started to show.
"But…but Boss…That's boring."
Kamui ended the call and walked toward the door. He opened it, ready to leave, when Hajime called out from behind him.
"Hey, kid. You're really going after a Horseman of the Apocalypse? Did you not see that fight between those two monsters?"
Kamui stopped but did not turn right away. After a moment, he glanced back over his shoulder, his expression unbothered.
"Who said anything about killing?"